5 ms·
There must be evidence of DNA mixing, so many people being moved so far must have left a genetic trace.
by zeristor 5y ago
There must be evidence of DNA mixing, so many people being moved so far must have left a genetic trace.
- dudeinjapan 5y agoThe Barbary pirates routinely castrated their slaves, precluding them from doing much DNA mixing.
- zeristor 5y agoYikes. But didn’t they also take female slaves too, some being concubines?
- dudeinjapan 5y agoYes, certainly, they raided European coastal villages. But AFAIK the majority of captives would have come from captured merchant ships, which were exclusively men. The pirates weren't so into keeping accurate records.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- ransom1538 5y agoThere are volumes of books on it. https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51hXkmBB-YL.jpg https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51hXkmBB-YL.jpg
- barry-cotter 5y agoSource? Castration had very high mortality and I’m not aware of any historical slave trade where it was routinely done.
- dudeinjapan 5y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_slavery_in_the_Muslim_world https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_slavery_in_the_Musl... "Castration: A fair proportion of male slaves were imported as eunuchs... in practice, emasculation was frequent" (and yes, it did also carry a high rate of death.)
- biorach 5y agothat text doesn't appear on that page. and that's a very generalised statement covering a long period of time and wide area. My understanding was that adults were rarely castrated, rather boys from certain regions were targeted (I believe boys from modern Sudan were preferred by the Ottomans)
- ttyprintk 5y agoIt appears on my version of that page. But, this is such a well-documented aspect of Ottoman slavery that it doesn’t depend on any particular Wikipedia page. This was known to be full-on castration.
- hef19898 5y agoThe Barbary pirates weren't Ottomans so. They traded with them and, if memory serves well, operated under Ottoman sponsorship at times.
- mda 5y agoRulers of Barbary pirates, famous ex corsair Ottoman chief admiral Barbaros Hayreddin, his brother Oruc were Ottoman.
- dudeinjapan 5y agoThen they knew how their customers expected their goods delivered!
- swayvil 5y agoDo something similar to their brain and you'd have a ... Mentat? It opens up so much possibility. Modified humans as household/industrial appliances. Tomorrow's XBox might be your genetically tweaked second cousin.
- mda 5y agoThis statement is doubtful. There were castrated slaves (Eunuchs) but were they mostly sold by Barbary pirates? Not really.
- hef19898 5y agoThere is in Iceland. As Vikings used to be active slavers a lot of women from northern France and the British isles ended up there. Partially due to the fact that Vikings, the raiders from Scandinavia and not all Scandinavians, were male dominated. Up to this day women in Iceland have a large degree of DNA from tjose regions, while men are as close to pure blood Vikings as you can probably be. One of the things discovered in the grnomr sequencing project that was conductef in Iceland.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- ransom1538 5y agoThe Turks loved Iceland for their white "pearls". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_Abductions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_Abductions https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51hXkmBB-YL.jpg https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51hXkmBB-YL.jpg https://www.michaelbackmanltd.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/6385-Oil-Painting-of-European-Slaves-presented-to-Mehmet-Ali-5-399x600.jpg https://www.michaelbackmanltd.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12...
- nanis 5y agoFrom the very same Wikipedia article: > The label "Turkish" does not refer to Turkey; at the time it was a general term for all Muslims in the Mediterranean region since the majority were a part of the Ottoman Empire. During the 17th century, the majority of those called "Turks" in Algeria, were disowned Christians that had converted to Islam. They were mostly Spanish, Italians, and provençaux (French). In my experience, most "Western" understanding of European history evolved in the last millennium is completely bereft of the recognition that it was influenced by a heavyweight to their East. Why did Columbus sail west? Why were the Portuguese going around the horn of Africa to get to Asia?
- hardlianotion 5y agoThat seems a little weird to me as a non-specialist. I had the impression that people take DNA in roughly equal mix from both parents, irrespective of sex.
- sct202 5y agoJan Janszoon a Dutch born man who was captured by the Barbary pirates and then became one has a fairly well documented life, and at least 2 of his children moved to New Amsterdam. Cornelius Vanderbilt is a descendent. This is one of his son's wikis https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Janszoon_van_Salee https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Janszoon_van_Salee
- alcover 5y agoFascinating question. Wildly speculating, I'd suppose european concubines were very much sought after by slavers and their 'customers'. And even more so blonds and redheads for their 'exotism'. Now some Algerians look very european. You can even see redheads, though I remember redheadness appeared independantly in Europe and the Levant I think.
- inglor_cz 5y agoThe indigenous people of North Africa are Berbers, and many Berbers have lighter complexion and hair. The same was true about the Guanche, who used to inhabit the Canary Islands before their Spanish conquest. They were "whiter" than the Spanish who conquered them.